CEO Interview with Sven Lagerweij, Managing Director Talk & Vision with HQ in the Netherlands, who explains how his company can become the largest systems integrator in Europe

15 April 2010. Sven Lagerweij became Managing Director Talk & Vision on 1 January 2006. Before that he was Talk & Vision's sales manager and in charge of the day-to-day business activities of the Linschoten office from 2002 to 2006. Sven joined Talk & Vision from Sony, where he started as Channel Manager Videoconferencing in the Netherlands. From there, he moved to Sony Europe where he was Key Accounts Manager.  Sven studied International Management at the Amsterdam Business School.

Sven Lagerweij is convinced that the long-expected breakthrough of videoconferencing has finally arrived. The technology is superb, people are focusing more on their work-life balance and the green aspect has moved up the corporate agenda. He tells the Editor more about this vision and how the company’s prospects have been transformed by KPN taking a 51% stake in July 2009.
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Editor: What have been the major changes internally at Talk and Vision since you joined as Sales Director in 2002?

Sven: At the start in 2000 the company focused on installing and maintaining videoconferencing equipment. Now we emphasise value added services. We offered a managed bridging service from 2003 onwards. It was painful in the beginning but it was soon a success. As we gained experience, we began to offer consultancy which reflects our experience with many customers. We find customers value this approach and also our expertise in helping their organisation accelerate the adoption of video.

Editor: What changes have you introduced since you became managing director in 2006?

Sven: We have focused more and more on non-hardware services and not only on technology. The company has grown rapidly from serving just two Dutch companies in 2002 to serving many companies including some operating on a global scale. We are now 60 people so the company needs a structure. I have given it a structure and the means to bid on and implement contracts for large video networks that cover not only Europe but the world. We have built a new Customer Service Centre and find a continuing need to expand this.

Editor: How have the ambitions of the company changed since July 2009 when KPN bought a 51% ownership stake?

Sven: Have our ambitions changed? Absolutely. We are now the video part of a much wider offering from KPN and its subsidiary company Getronics - an IP network and IT specialist that has embraced Unified Communications (UC). We can offer customers the expertise of Getronics on IP networks, VOIP and UC (Gartner has recognised us) and the international telecom network of KPN to carry their video traffic. We now have access to KPN and Getronics customers which gives us a wider customer base. Getronics has not only a strong footprint in Europe, but has also offices outside Europe

Together with Getronics we have taken a greater interest in Telepresence which most companies now demand. In December 2009, Getronics received the Advanced Technology Partner status in order to support Cisco TelePresence within the Cisco ATP programme. Talk & Vision will be taking care of the sales, implementation and managed video services for Cisco Telepresence.

Editor: What are your long-term ambitions in Europe?

Sven: We wanted to be a top 3 player in Europe and this was achieved in 2009. Now we want to be Number 1. To achieve this we needed a global delivery model. We are working hard on this with Getronics. Getronics is a Unified Communications player of significance in Europe and outside as well.

Editor: Can you offer a managed service for Telepresence systems?

Sven: The answer is yes. We can offer a managed service for both Tandberg and Cisco Telepresence. As we are now part of KPN / Getronics we can use both the in-house expertise as well as the international carrier connections available within the group to make this work. Many companies still want to use their own data network for video, but the bandwidth required for Telepresence makes a network dedicated to Telepresence and videoconferencing more desirable.

Editor: What do you see as the main changes in the external environment for marketing videoconferencing since 2002?

Sven: The technology has improved greatly and is now easy to use with one click required to set up a video meeting. But this wonderful technology has been under-marketed. The largest vendors and their channel partners have been too small in terms of resources for marketing and this has stopped the industry growing faster. The industry was also slow to recognise that it is successful customer experience that drives adoption and it concentrated on too narrow a group of vertical markets.

With the entry of giants like Cisco and Microsoft, video meetings are gaining a higher profile with top management where the sale needs to be made. Today, this industry is in a better position than ever before. The technology works, the focus has shifted from technology to customer drivers and the larger vendors have the capacity to address a much larger public.

Editor: Do you find demand for the company’s equipment integration services taking off; are we climbing the handle of the hockey stick at last?

Sven: We have been waiting 15 to 20 years for such growth. We find the market is growing fast enough for us and our shareholders. Growth will only become more rapid if there is widespread adoption of video on the desktop and the consumer market takes off. We are ready for large deployments of video on up to 1000 desktops and more thanks to our links with Getronics IP network and desktop management expertise. And KPN is studying the implications for its infrastructure of the massive use of video meetings by consumers in their home.

Editor: Do you see a big future as a provider of managed conferencing services and in particular for your service called MAVIS?

Sven: We have offered a Video Network Operations Centre since 2003. We prefer to call it our Customer Services Centre. It is open 24/7 and offers the service in the main international  languages. That is why it is so popular in Europe.

Selling managed services was a struggle even 4 years ago. Now everyone wants it. It is included in most large installations contracts and it is a major part of our company’s growth. We have seen revenues grow 60% a year from a small base in the last three years. We expect this to continue because we can now link our offering to the managed telecom service of KPN and the UC installations made by Getronics.

Editor: Do you find European companies keen to grasp the green agenda and improve the work-life balance of their staff?

Sven: For some companies, green is a driver of the adoption of video meetings; it is number 1 driver for TNT one of our largest customers. Other companies who have used video meetings to improve productivity add to their green credentials by citing the CO2 savings made from video in their PR. The financial crisis has accelerated the need to replace travel with video meetings. We also find that the word is now getting around that video meetings improve the work-life balance of busy executives.

Editor: Do you offer a video streaming service for corporate events?

Sven: This is part of the service we offer to major customers but we don’t advertise it. We do point out that equipment from Cisco, Polycom and TANDBERG makes possible recording and streaming a videoconference or presentation to hundreds of sites.

Editor: Will the use of video become ubiquitous in small and large European businesses?

Sven: The adoption rate could approach 50% eventually but it will depend on explaining the ROI to business managers. The huge resources of Microsoft and Cisco can help here. We have the experience to confirm a high ROI for most businesses.

Editor: Will the use of interactive video conferencing be ubiquitous on our HD TVs in the European home by 2015?

Sven: Vendors and carriers are looking at the implications of video in the home. Our children will expect it when they grow up. People have HD TV screens and broadband connections. So adoption will start soon. And this adoption could grow much faster than adoption in business.

Editor: Sven, thank you for these valuable insights.

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